Paul MacCready

Robert A. Jones' essay "Legacy of the Albatross" (Nov. 22) is a wonderful piece in tribute to Dr. Paul MacCready. However, the essay should have been titled "Legacy of the Condor."

It was in early 1977, long before the English Channel crossing of the Albatross, that MacCready and his staff stood in the early San Joaquin Valley cold to ready the Gossamer Condor for its maiden voyage into the sky. The first human-powered aircraft laboriously moved and soared. Relatively few stood there that morning. Most recalled the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine. None envisioned the legacy of that forgotten morning.